Category: Crochet

  I just added the crochet pattern for the Candy Corn Kitty Hat to my Etsy shop, so I expect to see an army of candy corn kitties very shortly! I designed this hat to fit me, so keep in mind, this is not a pattern for the wee ones, but for a small adult or lady’s head. Don’t forget that finished Candy Corn Kitty Hats are also available here, and there’s also the Pumpkin/Jack o Lantern slouchy beret here, and also Jack o Lantern mitts here! I still have a few more Halloween surprises up my sleeve, even though the big day is coming up really quickly! I’m hoping to blog about the next one before Friday!

New in my shop! Candy Corn Kitty hats! I’m releasing 5 of them right now, since we are so close to Halloween already, but if I happen to have enough time and if these 5 sell out, I will try to release a few more. Oh yeah, here’s the sketch I drew to help me plan my design. I know y’all love when I show off my fine-arts drawing skills. Hmm oops. So, I guess I didn’t save the hat sketch. All I have is the scarflet sketch I started with and decided to chuck. Oh well, I guess that’s part of the process I went through, too! I was thinking about how I kinda wanted to make something candy-corn-themed, without being just plain candy corn (there’s a lot of that stuff out there already). Somehow, a kitty came into the equation for no real reason at all. That’s a really un-interesting story. Sorry! That’s how it is sometimes! P.S. I decided to also post the pattern for this hat in my Etsy shop, along with a template for the face-parts, if you are not so inclined to cut them free-hand. That may take me a few more days to get nice n pretty, but you can be expecting a post about that soon!        

I tried Yoplait’s “Boston Cream Pie” yogurt over the weekend…and it was unfortunately not a favorite. Too sweet for me, although I do love the idea of eating pie for breakfast! While rinsing out the yogurt cup, I took a few seconds to stop and think of a fun crochet project to save this cup from the recycling bin and give it an extra life in my house. In the spirit of the season, I whipped up a little ghost sweater for it! I think it could be a fun way to decorate a small table and store tiny trinkets or even candy corn or M&M’s! We took a ghost cozy to the pumpkin patch to make our little video, and a little girl ran up to it with extreme delight. I think this is a good sign.

On Sunday, Manda and I visited a pumpkin patch together in Portola Valley and test drove our Halloween-themed hats! I’m wearing the trusty Pumpkin Slouchy Beret, and Manda is in a brand new sample of a Candy Corn Kitty Hat that I sketched out and crocheted on Saturday night. (Not listed on Etsy yet. I need to shoot product photos!) We made a little video, and here are some fun moments!   Watch the video to find out why Manda was so mad at the skeleton guy that she slapped him upside the head with her purse.   I will be posting a free pattern for this little ghost on my blog later in the week (I hope! I’m also in Elysse’s wedding this week!).  What is it? Watch the video!       As long as I’ve known her, she has been addicted to sugar. She is chugging candy corns out of a Candy Bar Clutch! These crazy giant gourd things look like kettlebells.   Really hard core squash-lifting. Okay, here’s the video! While we were at the patch, one of the guys working there asked where we got our hats. Manda said I made them. He asked if I could put a name on a hat, and I told him it depended on how intricate the name was. He pointed to a name on his own hat in some olde english-y font. I’m good, BUT NOT THAT GOOD! How about a pumpkin hat, buddy? Here’s our video from last year! Do you guys already have Halloween plans for this year? I don’t think we have any yet. No costumes planned. Today I joked that I could be Dora the Explorer and Manda could be my monkey-friend, and she asked me to make her a monkey hat … but … You don’t REALLY want to be a MONKEY for Halloween do you!? 😛

The neat thing about the German edition is that it’s my first hardcover! You can get it here at www.Amazon.de. A Finnish edition also came out in 2011, but I’m not really sure what the major Finnish book retailers are, or if the book is still available. If you have any idea, let me know! 🙂

Hey, San Francisco! Next Friday, October 11th, is “I love yarn day,” and the Craft Yarn Council is organizing a flash mob for fiber-lovers at noon sharp in Union Square Park. I’ve never really been a social crocheter (i.e. attending craft nights or stitch n bitch type events), but I am gonna show up at noon and check this out! Come say hi! Bring the project you’re working on! Let’s get yarny!

  I have a new interview up on the Red Heart Yarn blog! Janice and I hung out outside JapanLA back in June and chatted about crocheting. She was super sweet and also SUPER prepared with a huge list of questions to ask me and a tape recorder! I may not be as eloquent verbally as I am in writing……. but I remember having a lot of fun, and it’s cool now to re-live that night!

My new free crochet pattern for Michaels.com is now up: Candy Bar Clutches! They are just really simple zipper pouches with a touch of candy bar goodness. There is some sewing involved (which I am generally not a fan of myself), but I think it’s well worth the work! It’s really easy to interpret your favorite candy bar with a few simple colors and some fun felt fonts. My three samples are inspired by Snickers, Twix, and Reese’s peanut butter cups! I still want to make a Nestle Crunch, a Kit Kat, and maybe a Whatchamacallit! Do you guys have a favorite candy bar? Also, for those less crochet-inclined, I am working on a batch of finished candy bar clutches to put on Etsy. I just gotta finish writing the pattern for my December Michaels.com pattern ;).

Dear Bay Area, Have you ever wanted to learn to crochet? Have you ever wanted to wear a scarf that looks like chocolate truffles? Have you ever wanted to hang out with me??? On Tuesday night, October 15, from 7pm-9:30pm,  Ruth Tillman of The Enchanted Square and I will be teaching a crochet class together at Urban Bazaar in the Sunset district of San Francisco. I have never really taught crochet before, so we’ll be leaning on Ruth  for the learny stuff, and I’ll be there to tell you how to put the thing around the thing and pull the stuff through the other thing. Our project will be my Chocolate Truffle Scarf. No, we probably won’t be able to complete an entire scarf in class, but you should be able to finish one truffle and go home and complete the scarf with confidence! Plus you’ll also be supporting a neat store that sells local and fair trade goodies! Click here to purchase your spot for October 15!  The class is $35, plus a $10 materials fee if you don’t have hooks and yarn. If you already have hooks and yarn, I think you can bring your tools and some worsted weight yarn in your favorite truffle colors to work with. I’ll also bring some copies of “Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies” in case you want a signed copy! Come out and give me some pointers on teaching! Let’s scratch “Learn how to crochet cool stuff” off your bucket list!

So, Tiffany’s weenie dog Pistol had to have a major back surgery recently, and I wanted to do something to help out with her giant vet bill a little. If you are interested in adopting one of these weenie dog plushes, follow the “Add to cart” buttons below! I’m also selling the pattern. All profit minus PayPal fees, from your purchases on my blog page, will go directly to them! (The pattern is now only available via my Etsy shop cuz Tiffany will yell at me if I keep sending her money. 😛 )

Sorry for the blog-silence! I’ve been busy catching up with work, writing Michaels.com patterns, planning cool collabs for Yummy You! (p.s. our Ice Cream & Sunnies tee is now only $12.50!) and working on a few website updates (nothing big, just updating the Press section and the slideshow on the landing page!). I thought I would make it up to you guys by posting another free pattern here! It’s for the little Goldfish Crackers! You can use them as pins, hair clips, and someone mentioned wanting the pattern to make a mobile for her baby. Cute idea! I do not intend to sell anymore in my shop, so that is why I am sharing the pattern for free here.

My free crochet pattern for September is up at Michaels.com! Happy Saturday! I’m re-posting this pattern here on my blog, since Michaels.com re-vamped its entire site and scrubbed out a lot of patterns. It’s a Marigold Triangle Shawl! With Autumn just around the corner, I wanted to make something cozy and cheerful, and I couldn’t take my mind off granny-square afghans! I thought we could also celebrate the colors of the season with bright marigold blossoms, which I especially love because they are edible! Loops & Threads T-shirt yarn is a fun material for making pom-poms, since you get variegated colors in one ball with a cute, chunky look, and Candy Corn is absolutely perfect for our marigolds. So let’s get comfy with a classic granny-triangle shawl accented with fun pops of color! Kitsch-factor on maximum! The neat thing about this pattern is that once you get the hang of it, you can just keep going forever and ever and make the shawl as big or small as you like. My marigolds (which are edible flowers!) are made with Loops & Threads’ new tshirt yarn, which makes for nice and squishy pompoms. I hope you guys have fun cuddling and twirling with your new triangle shawls!

Remember when I made this grumpy octopus coffee cup cozy back in December? I finally made another one so that I could write down the pattern for you!

I’m really excited to let you guys know about another book I’ll have crochet patterns in: The Wizard of Oz Crochet Kit! It is now available for pre-order, and the official pub date is November 12th. This year is the 75th Anniversary of The Wizard of Oz, and I believe there will be a one-week run of the movie in theaters…. in 3D!? The author, Kristen from Schmancy in Seattle, asked if I would contribute a pattern to a super secret project earlier in the year. It had a super-fast turnaround, but I said yes! As it turned out, I contributed two projects! (None of which appear on the book cover, so it’s still a surprise.) Her publisher took care of the photography, so I have no idea what the inside will look like at all, so it will be an extra neat treat! Schmancy will be hosting a Wizard of Oz art show/book release party on November 15th, from 5:00pm-8:oopm. I’m gonna try to be there!

When I saw this adorable dress by Freckles & Ginger, I had to have it! Not only is her work super cute and classy, but she also donates all proceeds to animal rescues. I gave her my measurements, and with some Freckles & Ginger magic, the dress fit like a glove. I will definitely be buying more from this lovely lady! I bought this apple belt from some random thift/vintage shop on Melrose, and it kind of went perfectly with the dress! I also knew immediately that I had to crochet a Very Hungry Caterpillar head piece to go with this outfit. Here is the pattern that I created, so you can make one, too! Please note that this pattern is for personal use only, and that the Very Hungry Caterpillar is copyright/trademarked by Eric Carle, the author and illustrator.

Hey hey hey!!! Here’s August’s free crochet pattern from Michaels.com!  For this month, I was asked to think of fun dorm-room or back-to-school projects. When I think of college and dorms, I definitely think of PIZZA. Obviously, you don’t have to be in college or live in a dorm room to to add some PIZZA-ZZ to your decor, so this is also for all of us pizza-lovers who are down to throw a pizza & pj’s slumber ANY time and ANYwhere! Click here for the pattern! Edit, June 4, 2014: Please find the pattern here on my blog. Michaels.com is currently re-vamping their pattern/project section, and the above Michaels.com link is disabled for now.  

Wow, what a weekend! We vended at Renegade Craft Fair in Fort Mason on Saturday and Sunday, and it was quite the whirlwind! A lot of people were really complimentary about the booth and the stuff in the booth, and that was super nice. On the first day, Tiffany Star helped me out in the booth, and it’s always fun to have girlfriend time while you’re working a show. I kept forgetting to force her to take a picture with me, though. DOH. Luckily I found one on Instagram. HAHHA. (Instagram photos are at the bottom of this entry.) In case you hadn’t been following along, I was going for a Carnival theme for my booth, and I tried to incorporate some new products to match that theme, like corn dog pen cozies, cotton candy pen cozies, soft pretzel brooches, and snow cone hair clips. I get really worked up and sleep-deprived over each craft fair, and sometimes I wonder if they are bad for my health! But this fair also reminded me of all the new and old friends I get to see, and that’s really what makes the whole thing so fun.   Here’s a blurry pic I stole from Mali who has been visiting my booth for years! Here’s a collage of photos from Instagram. Top left: me and Susan from ModCloth.  Isn’t she the cutest pixie ever? Top right: stole this pic from Zambi. I told her to take a pic WITH me, but I was denied! :P.  Middle left: There’s me and Tiffany. I think what’s happening here is, whenever people asked, “Is it ok if I take a picture?” I never knew if they meant the booth, or also me/us in the booth, so usually, I wouldn’t look at the camera or try to look a certain way, in case they were just taking a picture of a pizza hair clip or something. Then, you get pics like this where we are kinda like MEEHHHHHRRRRRRRR….   Middle right: There’s the adorable Ahoy Miss in the Ice Cream Scoop scarf I just designed! The last two pics are me and Danielle/Ahoy Miss being goofy.  Do you like our dresses? They are by Sourpuss, and you’ll be seeing a lot more of them soon…. I was going to post a video, too, but I didn’t get very good video of my booth, and I didn’t really record anything overly interesting. There’s just this one clip of when we threw Danielle and Jose in the back of our Uhaul van…. And for those of you familiar with how I do: I will be posting a Leftovers Sale on Etshy with craft-fair-pricing on some items as soon as I can. The sale usually lasts a week. I’ll try to take photos and get them up by the end of this week, but I also have a new Michaels.com pattern to bang out as well!  

So, I am kind of realizing I don’t have THAT much STUFF for my tables at Renegade. I went over to my parents’ house tonight, so my mom could help me sew clothing labels onto things, and the number of scarves I have is… paltry. Well, okay, I have a lot of non-scarf items, just not a lot of scarf items…. Soooooo I started making a pickle scarf!! We’ll see if I have time to finish it. Anyhoo, here are some sneaks that I’ve been posting on Instagram! Also, don’t forget to check out this super-cute stop-motion animation featuring one of my new crocheted corn dogs!

Check out the neat stop-motion promo video my buddy Justin made, starring: a corn dog pen cozy!!! It’s a cautionary tale about why you shouldn’t leave your corn dog pen cozy unattended….  Music by my always-favorite Twink, the Toy Piano Band. Can’t wait to debut these little guys at Renegade Craft Fair this weekend!

Here’s another sneak peek at something new I’ll have at my booth at Renegade Craft Fair, San Francisco, July 27-28, in Fort Mason! These are going to be pins/brooches, and I’m gonna try suspending them in real pet-fish plastic baggies. I’ll be giving away 10 fishies to the first 10 customers who spend over $50.00. Or something like that. We’ll see!  

So, right now, I’m trying to be in full Renegade-Craft-Fair mode. There are of course other things I have to do, like deliver a new Michaels.com pattern in 2 weeks, and also make samples for Yummy You! and work on Yummy You! promo stuff and new products, but I’m really really TRYING to be in Renegade-Craft-Fair mode, cuz it’s less than a month away!! PANIC TIME!!! I just finished the patterns for these Corn Dog Pen Cozies. It took me a while to figure out how I wanted to portray the one with the bite taken out of it. I’m not fully convinced that people will know exactly what is going on there, but Hairy assures me it looks like what it’s supposed to look like! And they are getting a pretty good reception on Instagram. If you don’t follow me on there, just know that I post a bunch of stuff there that I never really re-post anywhere else, except, of course, for right here and right now, with these corn dogs…. anyway. I’m trying to debut a bunch of new designs at Renegade, so, I better get back to doing just that!  

If you know me, you know I have a deep relationship with triple scoop ice creams! 😉 In this free crochet pattern for Michaels.com, I was asked to create a summery project using Red Heart Gumdrop! And then the Rainbow Sherbet Throw Pillow was born! Edit, June 4, 2014: Please find the pattern here on my blog. Michaels.com is currently re-vamping their pattern/project section, and the above Michaels.com link is disabled for now. I already had the mint green Gumdrop (Smoothie) and was thrilled to find a project for it! The really fun part of this pattern is the mix and match aspect. You can make one scoop, two scoops, or three scoops, (or even 50 scoops if you are really adventurous) and you can use all your favorite colors and flavors… even on the cone! I’m starting to make a vanilla scoop with a hot pink cone :). I’ll also be writing the pattern for a soft-serve top and a sugar cone bottom for the ultimate mix n match ice cream throw pillow party! P.S. Here is the fix for Row 31 of the Sherbet Scoop! Row 31: (RS) Ch 1, turn. 1 sc, [1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 htr, 2 tr each in next 5 sts, 1 htr, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 5 sc] 5 times. 1 hdc, 1 dc, 1 htr, 2 tr in next 5 sts, 1 htr, 1 dc, 1 hdc, 1 sc each in last 2 sts. Break off Cherry. (124)

Happy Monday! New free crochet pattern! Michaels.com asked me to use one of their new yarns, Loops & Threads Impeccable Brights, with a “Poolside” theme, so I designed this slushee-themed draw string bag to pop your essentials in while you cool off in the water! Yeah, that’s a real straw! Edit, June 4, 2014: Please find the pattern here on my blog. Michaels.com is currently re-vamping their pattern/project section, and the above Michaels.com link is disabled for now. To re-inforce the shape of this bag, I re-used a 32 oz. takeout soup container, like this one. I have also seen 32 oz. containers at Target. The bag will still hold its shape pretty well without a container inside as long as you don’t go putting 50 pounds of stuff in there! Have so much fun with this pattern! I plan to make them in 3 different flavors for Renegade Craft Fair SF next month!

It’s gonna be Betty Turbo week at The Drawing Board in Corvallis, OR, from June 17 to June 22, and I made two tiny (4 in x 4 in) crochet paintings for the Awesome Tiny Art Show with a reception on Friday, June 21, from 6:00pm – 8:30pm. It’s summertime, and that means, ice cream time!   I kind of have a crush on those little cherries!!! You might recognize them as game pieces from Hi Ho Cherry-o :P.